La Jolla Playhouse announces the two lead roles for its upcoming production of Freaky Friday, book by Bridget Carpenter (TV’s "Friday Night Lights," "Parenthood"), music and lyrics by the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning team of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (Next to Normal, If/Then), based on the novel Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers and the Walt Disney motion pictures, to be directed by Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley, running January 31st–March 12th, 2017 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre. Broadway veterans Heidi Blickenstaff (Broadway’s Something Rotten) and Emma Hunton (Broadway’s Spring Awakening, Next to Normal) will reprise their roles from the recent Signature Theatre production, as "Katherine Blake" and "Ellie Blake," respectively, in this uproarious new musical. Complete casting will be announced in the coming weeks
"Heidi and Emma play a mother and daughter who swap bodies. They do it so persuasively that when I have a note in rehearsals, I sometimes forget which actress I should be addressing," said Ashley. "I can’t wait for San Diego audiences to experience their performances in this joyous new musical. They portray this often tumultuous relationship between mother and daughter in ways that are heartfelt and hilarious – and absolutely universal."
Disney’s new musical Freaky Friday is based on the celebrated novel by Mary Rodgers and two hit Disney films. The classic story of a mother and daughter who magically swap bodies for 24 chaotic hours has been given a contemporary spin with a hilarious new book by Bridget Carpenter ("Parenthood," "Friday Night Lights").
There's inventive staging by Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley (Come From Away, Memphis) and sharp choreography by Sergio Trujillo (Memphis, Jersey Boys. The Playhouse run will launch a three-theatre co-production of Freaky Friday, heading from San Diego to the Cleveland Playhouse and Houston’s Alley Theatre.
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